For work I do some stuff with a group called “PopRally” that, for lack of a better explanation, does programming for young folks. For the last event, I made some animations for the lobby screens, and here are some photos of them in action by the photographer for the event:

A little late, but pictures from our trip to Seattle and Portland:
http://www.davidhart.org/images/seattleportland/seattleportland.html

Our friend Steve came across a posting about tours in an old underground trolley tunnel in Brooklyn (http://www.brooklynrail.net/bhra_events.html)

Unfortunately, I fell victim to a bad case of Tunnel Madness during the tour, and bludgeoned Steve. Click on the photo for more images.

We all know that the Japanese are cooler than we are, but they even have cooler art supplies. When we went to Seattle I found a Japanese bookstore and a cool little Pentel Aquash set that comes in a little case; I’ve had the single color brushpens before, but the set is so much cooler. Even a lazy sketcher like me can have fun with these beasties (click on the images for bigger versions:

Directions while in Seattle:

Sketches on a bus out to Long Island:

Our friend Nina was over and needed to scan some stuff, so I had to show her how it worked — here’s the result:

So there’s a new show up at work (http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/exhibitions.php?id=3956) where an artist is drawing directly on the walls in the atrium. Pretty awesome. Someone in our marketing group shot some footage of it, and I edited together this short video of it for YouTube: (in the link below doesn’t work, go here: http://www.youtube.com/v/CkXXNGfx_3k)

When you have two cats, you can count on SCARY dustbunnies. Here’s a doodle based on them:

Here’s photos of the wee beasts.

A great article from Modern Painters, November 2006:

One of the reasons California, and Los Angeles in particular, are challenging and unusual places is their persistence in conjuring a multiplicity of ideologies that appear to take concrete social form. Los Angeles projects an elastic quality, like that of images or a rubber band; it can snap back and forth from the politically radical to the politically conservative. The ideology of each blurs to the point where no one can tell the difference between the two, much less notice that the language and discourse produced by these positions only pretends to move, never escaping confinement with its own mirror image.

Faced with a world more fantastic than anything in any gallery or museum, dominated and defined by absurd wars that threatened to rage without end, what could be more delusional than claiming that contemporary art has the capacity to create social change? It’s not that I doubt the sincerity of any artist who makes work that is socially or politically relevant. What concerns me is the consensual lie we live in together, pretending that what we make as artists has any political value outside the artworld, when in truth these so-called politically manifestations are displayed in galleries and museums, bought and sold for the artists’ and institutions’ profit, benefiting no one else. A classic argument of neoliberalism suggests that preaching to the converted is worthwhile; I don’t believe it. I find neoliberalism as ineffective as neoconservatism, with both serving only to pacify the guilt and regret of this country’s history at the expense of new ideas that could move us forward. As much as I will argue for the genuine capacity of art to affect who we are as human beings, I can only observe that we have neither the strength nor the courage to commit ourselves in any way that is politically substantive. Who among us is willing to sacrifice for the benefit of others the lifestyle we have come to enjoy from living in an empire?

Fear, not hope, abounds when one believes hope no longer exists. In less comfortable conditions, the opposite holds true. I recently returned from a two-week stay in Cali, Colombia, where I was invited to teach a class at an artist’s space called Lugar a Dudas. The name translates, provocatively, as “room for doubt.” Artist Oscar Muñoz and gallery director Sally Mizrachi have created an aesthetic and political oasis, a utopian reality where need and risk of the highest order go hand in hand. The art center attempts to fill the black hole at the heart of the city, whose infrastructure has collapsed and whose populace is brutalized by endless cycles of violence. Muñoz and Mizrachi have used their own resources to purchase a building and create a program that includes exhibitions, lectures, film screenings, library and computer resources, and a residency program and classes that bring visiting international artists to Cali. While this all might sound familiar to us in the United States, Lugar a Dudas is the only place of its kind in Colombia. Everything that the space offers is free of charge. I would argue that no such institution exists in the United States, acting in such good faith and without ulterior motives.

What worries me is that so much gain is to be made from so-called political art, with careers and fame built on mannerisms that claim a political pedigree. These works regurgitate familiar rhetoric and offer cozy answers so everyone can feel warm and fuzzy and sleep at night. It has been said that people should not be afriad of their governments but governments should be afraid of their people. Similarly, there was a time when artists led the discourse in art—before it became an industry—and art and ideas were dangerous.

Me and the Lady submitted a set of drawings for this upcoming show:

More about the show here: http://www.suckersandbiters.com

UPDATE: Opening Reception Friday, February 16th, 6-9pm
Gimme Shelter Group Show to benefit The National Coalition for the Homeless
193c Gallery (behind Cafe Grumpy), Brooklyn.

I put together a small piece for an interesting little show that will be starting in the UK and making it’s way to the US. It’s a benefit for homelessness that requires that artists use only cardboard.

HTTP://WWW.GIMMESHELTER.CO.UK
My entry is listed here:
http://www.gimmeshelter.co.uk/ArtistInfo.php?user_id=213

I know, it breaks my philosophy about what should be posted, but seeing as how only 2 or so people actually look at this thing, here are pictures of Kojak the Cat. Not pictured is his new friend Dame Judy Dench, but that will come in time.

He got his nickname for always being on the case and investigating EVERYTHING. Including the fridge:

Here’s a rare moment: Kojak NOT chasing something

And here he is making up for waking us up in the middle of the night biting our hair:

The Wooster Collective (http://www.woostercollective.com) is hosting an amazing street art show this weekend in the city. Here are some photos from the opening that I was lucky enough to sneak into thanks to a friend at Cabinet magazine (so subscribe, please — http://cabinetmagazine.org). The photos REALLY don’t do it justice, but click below to see some snapshots.

I’ve been busy at work helping to get a site together (http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/2006/Manet/index.htm) for a show up at MoMA. Here’s a contemporary re-interpretation of the piece:

Apple Pickin’! Click on the little sobrinita for more

If you haven’t seen startastory.com before, you should. A website by some lads in England based on collaborative projects, it has fun little things people can do and share. One of the newer activities is a Flowchart Adventure. Here’s mine:
http://www.startastory.com/project/flowchartadventure/illustrated24.html